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Researched by Katelyn M.
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Basic Information
The human body includes your heart, lungs, eyes, kidneys, hair, teeth,
bones, stomach, brain, skin, and more. Our body systems determine how we
move, how we breath in oxygen, how we grow, how we eat, and how we protect
ourselves from disease. It’s very important we eat healthy foods and that
we exercise daily.
List all systems
Several of the body systems are the muscular system, digestive system, circulatory system, skeletal system, reproductive system, skin system, and nervous system.
Nervous system
The nervous system includes the brain, spinal cord, and the nerves. The brain is the part that tells body parts what to do. For example when you poke yourself with a needle, it tells you that you need to move away from it.
Circulatory system
The circulatory system carries blood throughout the body. The circulatory system is with your heart pumping blood. Your heart pumps blood through long tubes called arteries. Arteries empty into tiny vessels called capillaries. Capillaries empty into tiny veins. Veins are tubes that are all through our body, bringing blood back to the heart. The heart is one of the most important organs in your body. Veins bring used blood back to the heart so it can pick up more oxygen before going around the body again. Your heart is important because the heart contracts to pump oxygenated blood to the body. During each heartbeat typically about 60 to 90 ml. of blood are pumped out of the heart. If the heart stops pumping, death usually occurs within 4 to 5 minutes. Your heart is really a muscle. It’s located a little to the left of the middle of the chest, and it’s about the size of both of your fists. The left heart pump sends blood to the lungs. The right heart pump sends oxygen rich blood throughout the body. Over 76 years, the heart will beat nearly 2.8 billion times and move 169 million liters of blood. Blood is bright red when it is carrying oxygen. Veins bring used blood back to the heart so it can pick up more oxygen before going around the body again.
Skin
The skin keeps germs out of your body and protects inside body parts. It also helps us keep our body parts in the correct places such as all of our veins, hearts, lungs, kidneys, and our bones. The skin helps us when we get hot. It has blood vessels widen to loose heat and when we get cold, blood vessels narrow to keep heat in. All people have different colors of skin because of the climate they live in and because of how much melanin they have in their body. The darker the skin the more melanin and the lighter the skin the less melanin you have. If you have dark skin you tan more easily and if you have light skin it may burn more. Hair color depends on the amount of melanin too. A little melanin makes light hair and a lot of melanin makes darker hair.
Skeletal System
The skeletal system includes your bones, tendons, ligaments, and gives you shape and form. Your bones are important because they help you walk and pick up objects. They also help you stand strong and tall. Your bones have marrow inside which makes red and white blood cells. White blood cells help you when germs come in your body and make you sick. The white blood cells come and get rid of them by destroying them. You have 30 million red blood cells in your whole body. They carry oxygen.
Teeth
Teeth help you eat and talk. Babies are usually born without teeth, and grow 20 milk teeth by the time they are about three. An average adult has 32 permanent teeth in their mouth. The tooth has two main parts the crown and the root. The crown is the top part of the tooth that you can see. The enamel forms a hard outer covering on the crown. The root holds the tooth in place. It has nerves and blood vessels. It is important to brush your teeth at least twice a day so that you don’t get cavities. Cavities are when sugar and saliva meet and bacteria build up on your tooth, which starts to go into your tooth. So if you take care of your teeth they will last dozens of years.
Eyes
Your eyes work from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to sleep. They take tons of information about the world around you-shapes and forms, colors, movements, and more. They process the information and transfer it to your brain so it knows what’s going on outside of your body. The eye is about 1 inch around, and it sits right behind the eyelid. The eye sits in a little hollow area (the eye socket) in the skull, and the eyelid protects it. The eyelid opens and shuts several times a minute without you ever thinking about it-it’s an involuntary action. That’s better known as blinking. When you blink, the eyelid helps to keep the eye clean. The eyelid also has great reflexes that protect the eye in different situations. When you step into bright light, the eyelids involuntarily squeeze together tightly to protect the eyes.
Brain
The brain is made up of approximately 100 billion nerve cells and 10 billion neurons. It is there to help you move around and help you learn. It helps you move by telling muscles to move. It helps you to learn by storing information. The main part of the brain is in two halves called, "hemispheres." Your cerebral cortex is the thinking area, your brain stem controls automatic actions such as breathing, and your cerebellum controls your muscles and balance. At night your brain goes through 90-minute cycles of deep shallow sleep. The optic nerve connects your eyes to your brain. The brain understands the chemical reactions in the neurons.
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